Kamil Ahmad – Using Free Time Wisely
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AI: Transcript ©
Since the day Allah
created us in the wombs of our mothers
and he breathed into our bodies, our souls.
From that day until now,
our time has been ticking away.
And so our time
is limited
and it's slowly but surely
taking away.
He says,
Adam
He says, O son of Adam,
you are nothing but a number of days.
If 1 day of you goes by
then a part of you has gone.
And so
each day
that goes by, think about it,
a part of you has gone
never to return.
Each day that goes by is 1 is
1 day
and 1 step
closer
to your grave.
And so
think about that and then ask yourself.
Ask yourself,
what have you done with your life until
now?
What have you done
with the years gone by
and the months gone by,
and the days gone by?
How have you spent them
and how have you used them?
Have you used them
in a way that is beneficial to you
and others
or have you simply allowed them to go
to waste?
And that's why the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam says,
The 2 feet
of the servant
will not move
on the day of judgment
when he is brought to account before Allah
until
he is asked about 4 things,
until you are asked about 4 things.
2 of these things the Prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam says
about his youth
and how he spent it,
and
his life
and the years of his life,
and how
he used it.
And so
with the summer holidays around the corner for
our children,
We need to remind them of this reality
because they're gonna have a lot of free
time on their hands.
We need to remind them that what they
have in their hands
is a blessing from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
A blessing
that
seldom do many people value
and look at as a blessing.
But what did the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam say about 3 time?
He said,
There are 2 blessings
that many people are deprived of or they
don't value.
What are these 2 blessings?
He says,
Asihatu al Farag,
good health
and free time,
good health
and free time.
And so we only truly realize the value
of these blessings
once they've been taken away from us.
And so think about it.
Especially a few years ago when we were
going through the pandemic
and covid.
How many people got ill
and how many people,
that was it. It led to their deathbed.
None of them expected that to happen.
And so while they were going through what
they were going through, they were remembering.
They were remembering those days
in which
they had good health,
in which they could have done a lot
with their lives,
but unfortunately
it was a source of regret. Why?
Because they recalled all those days that went
by in which they did not take advantage
of that good health.
Likewise,
al Farag,
free time.
You only truly
value it once it's taken away from you.
And so all of us value it now
as we're older
and now we remember
the days when we were younger
and we didn't have many responsibilities
on our shoulders,
And today we regret all those days in
which
we did not spend our days and our
time usefully,
but rather
we allowed ourselves
to waste those those days, those precious days
and time
allowing them to go to waste.
Why do we value them now? Because those
days are not gonna come back.
Those days are never going to come back.
As you're a grown man or a woman,
an adult
and you have all these responsibilities on your
shoulders,
these responsibilities
are not going to lessen.
Instead, they're going to increase
and you're going to become more and more
busy as the days go by.
So that's why the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
tells us,
Take advantage of 5 things
before another 5.
Take advantage
of 5 blessings
before another 5 things come to take away
those blessings.
The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam says,
Your youth
before your old age.
Your youth when you're young, you have energy
and you could do things that you cannot
do when you become older.
And your good health
before you become ill as we already mentioned.
And
your riches
in the days in which you have money
and you're well off
before
you become poor.
You have wealth today.
What guarantee do you have that you will
still have that wealth tomorrow?
You might have a good job today,
but what guarantee do you have
that you'll still have that good job tomorrow?
Use whatever Allah has given to you
of this wealth
in that which is beneficial to you
before it's taken away from you.
And then the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
says, And
your free time
before your busy time.
If you have free time today,
use it wisely.
Spend it in what is beneficial for you
and those around you
because
without a doubt
you are guaranteed
to have that free time taken away from
you
sooner or later.
And
take advantage
of your life
before your death. Today, you're alive.
Tomorrow, you will no longer be alive.
Don't let
your
time in your grave
to be a time spent in regret
over the life that you spent
in the disobedience of Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala.
And so let us take advantage
of our time
before it's too late,
and let us instill
these ideas
in our youth, our young ones
who have this free time
in their hands today.
O you who believe,
fear Allah
and let each and every single soul
ask himself
and look to what He has sent for
his tomorrow.
Ask yourself
how you have spent your life so far.
Ask yourself, are you prepared to meet Allah
in the state in which you are currently
in?
And then
change your ways
from now
without delaying it for even a single day
because
the past is behind you. You cannot change
it.
The future is not in your hands. You
don't know how much more you have left,
but the present is what you do have
in your hands.
It's up to you
to either
change or leave yourself as you are.
As we approach the summer holidays,
this is a time
that will either make or break our children.
As the saying goes,
alwaktukasayf
illam taqta'ahu
kata'aq.
Time is like a sword.
If you don't cut it, if you don't
use it how you want to use it,
then it will cut you.
And that's why shaitan,
he knows this very well
and he takes advantage of us and
he takes advantage of our weak points.
He realizes
that our free time
is a weak point of ours.
If you're not busy
If you're not busy
in that which is beneficial to you,
whether it be in that which is beneficial
for your dunya or your akhirah,
then here is a void
for shaitan to come and fill.
And that's exactly what we have
seen. Those youth
who are in the prime
of their
life.
If they don't benefit
themselves and spend their time wisely,
the shaitan will come
and fill in that time for them.
And that's why Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala commanded
His beloved Messenger Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
If anyone was excused to having free time
and enjoying themselves, it would have been the
best of mankind, Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam. But
what does Allah tell him?
Once you have fulfilled your responsibilities,
once you have
done
all your responsibilities
and now you're free.
Allah says, Now stand up in devotion before
Allah
There is no such thing as free time.
If you have free time,
then you need to use it.
You need to use it
whether it be
in that which is for your future in
the dunya
or
for your akhirah
which is far more greater and important.
And so another blessing,
another blessing
that many of us,
that many of us have fallen short
in fulfilling its responsibility
is the blessing of children.
Having a children having children
is a niyama of Allah. It is a
blessing of Allah
and with every blessing comes its responsibilities.
With every blessing
comes its responsibilities.
Allah
commanding us, He says,
O you who believe,
save yourselves and your families from a fire.
A fire that is made of fuel and
stones.
Save yourselves
and your families.
You have a responsibility
on your shoulders.
The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam says,
Every single 1 of you
has a responsibility
and every single 1 of you will be
questioned about his responsibility before Allah on the
day of judgment.
The man is responsible
for those under him in his household
and he will be questioned
about his responsibility.
And the woman is also responsible.
She is responsible
for the family
and her children,
and she will also be
questioned by Allah.
How did she
fulfill
that responsibility?
And so fulfilling the responsibility of our children
does not mean like many of us think,
providing food for them on the table,
giving them an education,
giving them a shelter,
giving them food and and
and clothes to wear.
That's only part of the responsibility,
but the greater responsibility
is making sure
that you have saved them from the punishment
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
as Allah has commanded us. Ibn Waqayim Rahimahu
Wa Ta'ala He says,
Whoever neglects his children,
he neglects teaching
his children
what will benefit him,
then he has left him
in vain.
He has left his children in vain
and he has done them a great injustice.
He says,
the deviation
and the corruption
of most children
has only come from their parents
and their neglect of them,
not teaching them the fundamentals of their religion.
They neglected them when they were young
and now when these children are older,
they did not benefit themselves
nor their parents when they got older.
And so this is a reality
that we are living in today. It's as
if he was speaking about our situation today.
How many times
does the imam of the masjid
have to deal
with children when their parents come
and their teenage children
have gone astray?
And they come
and they tell the imam,
my son,
my daughter
has gone astray.
They're having doubts about Islam.
They don't believe in Allah.
1 has become gay, another has become lesbian.
Come and fix them.
Now,
after an entire childhood
of neglecting them
and
allowing them
to live
freely in this society
without watching them, without
making sure that we have given them the
proper
and the proper Islamic education,
and put them in the right environment.
Now
you come,
now it's too late.
This is what Ibrahim Al Qayim was talking
about centuries ago
and it is as if he was speaking
about our situation today,
And so let us
make sure that our children,
as the summer holidays
are around the corner,
let's make sure
that we put them into a program in
which they will benefit themselves.
And there is no better place than the
masjid.
There is no better place in the dunya
than the masjid
to protect our children
from the evils of society.
And so
let us bring them. There are several programs
taking place
across the city
specifically for the summer holidays.
Do not allow your children
to be by themselves
and to have free time
that they are not using
and spending wisely.